they who said among themselves, thinking not
aright: "Brief and troublous is our lifetime; neither is there any remedy
for man's dying, nor is anyone known to have come back from the nether world.

2

For haphazard were we born, and hereafter we
shall be as though we had not been; Because the breath in our nostrils is a
smoke and reason is a spark at the beating of our hearts,

3

And when this is quenched, our body will be
ashes and our spirit will be poured abroad like unresisting air.

4

Even our name will be forgotten in time, and no
one will recall our deeds. So our life will pass away like the traces of a
cloud, and will be dispersed like a mist pursued by the sun's rays and
overpowered by its heat.

5

For our lifetime is the passing of a shadow;
and our dying cannot be deferred because it is fixed with a seal; and no one
returns.

6

Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things
that are real, and use the freshness of creation avidly.

7

Let us have our fill of costly wine and
perfumes, and let no springtime blossom pass us by;

8

let us crown ourselves with rosebuds ere they
wither.

9

1 Let no meadow be free from our wantonness;
everywhere let us leave tokens of our rejoicing, for this our portion is, and
this our lot.

10

Let us oppress the needy just man; let us
neither spare the widow nor revere the old man for his hair grown white with
time.